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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ISBN-10: 1-59749-055-5 ISBN-13: 978-1-59749-055-9
Publisher: Andrew Williams Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien Acquisitions Editor: Erin Heffernan Copy Editor: Darlene Bordwell Technical Editor: Johnny Long Cover Designer: Michael Kavish
Distributed by O’Reilly Media, Inc. in the United States and Canada.
Acknowledgments
Syngress would like to acknowledge the following people for their kindness and support in making this book possible.
Syngress books are now distributed in the United States and Canada by
O’Reilly Media, Inc.The enthusiasm and work ethic at O’Reilly are incredible, and we would like to thank everyone there for their time and efforts to bring Syngress books to market:Tim O’Reilly, Laura Baldwin, Mark Brokering, Mike Leonard, Donna Selenko, Bonnie Sheehan, Cindy Davis, Grant Kikkert, Opol Matsutaro, Steve Hazelwood, Mark Wilson, Rick Brown,Tim Hinton, Kyle Hart, Sara Winge, C. J. Rayhill, Peter Pardo, Leslie Crandell, Regina Aggio, Pascal Honscher, Preston Paull, Susan Thompson, Bruce Stewart, Laura
Schmier, Sue Willing, Mark Jacobsen, Betsy Waliszewski, Kathryn Barrett, John Chodacki, Rob Bullington, Aileen Berg, and Wendy Patterson.
The incredibly hardworking team at Elsevier Science, including Jonathan Bunkell, Ian Seager, Duncan Enright, David Burton, Rosanna Ramacciotti, Robert Fairbrother, Miguel Sanchez, Klaus Beran, Emma Wyatt, Chris Hossack, Krista Leppiko, Marcel Koppes, Judy Chappell, Radek Janousek, and Chris Reinders for making certain that our vision remains worldwide in scope.
David Buckland, Marie Chieng, Lucy Chong, Leslie Lim, Audrey Gan, Pang Ai Hua, Joseph Chan, and Siti Zuraidah Ahmad of STP Distributors for the enthusiasm with which they receive our books.
Lead Author
Brian Baskin[MCP, CTT+] is a researcher and developer for Computer Sciences Corporation. In his work, he researches,
develops, and instructs computer forensic techniques for members of the government, military, and law enforcement. Brian currently spe-cializes in Linux/Solaris intrusion investigations, as well as in-depth analysis of various network protocols. He also has a penchant for penetration testing and is currently developing and teaching basic exploitation techniques for clients.
Brian has been developing and instructing computer security courses since 2000, including presentations and training courses at the annual Department of Defense Cyber Crime Conference. He is an avid amateur programmer in many languages, beginning when his father purchased QuickC for him when he was 11, and has geared much of his life around the implementations of technology. Brian has written a handful of Mozilla Firefox extensions; some, like Passive Cache, are publicly available. He currently spends most of his time writing insecure PHP/MySQL web-based apps. Brian has been a Linux fanatic since 1994, and is slowly being drawn to the dark side of Apples and Macs.
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Johnny Longhas presented at SANS and other computer security conferences nationwide, including the Black Hat Briefings. In addi-tion, he has presented before several government entities. His is the author of the best-selling Google Hacking for Penetration Testers
(Syngress, ISBN: 1931836361). During his career as an attack and penetration specialist, he performed active network and physical security assessments (one in the cube is worth twenty on the net) for hundreds of government and commercial clients. He is a Black Hat featured speaker, and his website can be found at
http://johnny.ihackstuff.com.
Johnny is a Christian by grace, a family guy by choice, a profes-sional hacker by trade, a pirate by blood, a ninja in training, a secu-rity researcher, and an author. Johnny is thankful for much. He thanks Christ first. He gives thanks to Jen, Makenna,Trevor, and Declan.These guys pay the price when deadlines hit. Johnny thanks them for understanding and supporting him.They have his love, always. He also thanks Andrew and the rest of his Syngress family. He thanks Brian and Josh. He appreciates their time and commit-ment to this project. Great work! Johnny gives thanks to the johnny.ihackstuff.com mods (Murf, Jimmy Neutron, JBrashars, CP Klouw, Sanguis,ThePsyko, Wolveso) and members for their help and support.
Shouts: Nathan B, Sujay S, Stephen S, James Foster, Jenny Yang, SecurityTribe, the Shmoo Group, Sensepost, Blackhat, Defcon, Neal Stephenson (Baroque), Stephen King (on Writing),Ted Dekker (Thr3e), P.O.D., Pillar, Project86, Shadowvex,Yoshinori Sunahara, Pat C.To Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole for the Invisible Children movement (http://www.invisiblechildren.com). He’s behind you guys all the way!
Joshua Brasharsis a telecommunications and security specialist in San Diego. He spends his time working with Secure Science Corporation’s External Threat Assessment Team, breaking things apart and taping them back together. Joshua has contributed to sev-eral books with Syngress Publishing and has presented at confer-ences and universities across the United States.
Josh wrote Chapter 2, Installation.
Michael Goughis host and webmaster of www.VideoCallTips. com, which was launched in January 2005 and receives more than 81,000 hits per month. He is also the author of Skype Me! From Single User to Small Enterprise and Beyond (Syngress Publishing, ISBN, 1-59749-032-6) and webmaster of www.SkypeTips.com, which receives more than 140,000 hits per month. Michael writes articles on personal videoconferencing and related issues and con-tributes to the Networking Pipeline section of Skype.com. He also explains personal videoconferencing options and instructions to users so that they can practically apply video calls at home and while out of town on business to stay in touch with family and friends. Michael also evaluates products for vendors and posts ratings on his Web sites. He evaluates products used with video calls and provides feedback to the vendors on features and improvements to help drive the direction of video call-related products. Michael is also the host and webmaster for www.InternetVisitation.org,a Web site focused on helping people understand how to make video calls to family and friends after divorce, and maintains ratings of the many video call solutions available. Michael gives presentations on this subject at several conferences around the country to educate attorneys on the use of video calls in divorce—a practice known as virtual visitation, and www.InternetVisitation.orgcurrently
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Consultant with 18 years’ experience in the computer technology field. He works for a Fortune 500 where he delivers security con-sulting services to their clients. He also presents for his company at many trade shows and conferences and works with associations and groups, advising agencies like the FBI on Skype security and the Center for Internet Security on wireless security.
Contents
Troubleshooting Windows Audio Recording . . . .27
Installing the Application . . . .31
Summary . . . .88
Solutions Fast Track . . . .89
Frequently Asked Questions . . . .91
Chapter 5 Google Talk Add-ons and Modifications . . . 93
Onion Router Proxies . . . .166
Configuring for Google Talk: Standalone Client . . . .180
Deploying Google Talk Client . . . .181
Deploying Google Talk: Client Registry Changes . . .181
Allowing Google Talk Client Network Traffic . . . . .183
CamFrog . . . .243
Chatablanca . . . .243
CUWorld . . . .244
DKMessenger . . . .244
EyeBall Chat . . . .245
LIvVE . . . .245
PalTalk . . . .245
Other Video Call Solutions . . . .246
Microsoft Portrait . . . .246
Obsolete, End-of-Life, or Discontinued Solutions . . .247
Summary . . . .248
Introduction
Solutions in this chapter:
■ Where Did Instant Messaging Come From? ■ Other Popular IM Clients and How Google
Talk Stacks Up
■ How You Can Implement Google Talk in
Your Life
Chapter 1
Summary
How Did We Get Here?
We live in a grand age in which information flows at the speed of light and regional boundaries collapse under the weight of the Internet. Once upon a time, our parents were penpals to others living in foreign nations, scratching out long messages on paper to be mailed off. Weeks would pass without notice or confirmation, until suddenly a heavily stamped envelope would arrive from a friend overseas. Now we enjoy instantaneous communication to nearly every country in the world.The world of penpals and business has become one of instant global communication. But the struggle to get to this point has been long and filled with peril. We are at a stage where the world of communications is being turned upside down, and many users and busi-nesses are forced to make a choice: to adopt new technology or to confine themselves to the relics of ancient devices.
Personally, I have been lucky to follow the advent of the instant-messaging world from the beginning. It all started with the days of bulletin board sys-tems (BBSs) running Renegade and PCBoard, which had very basic chat components to allow you to “talk” with the handful of others who could be on the same BBS at the same time. It was the introduction of FidoNet, an old-school mail-relaying system, that whetted my appetite for international communication. I quickly established my own bulletin board as a FidoNet node, allowing myself and my users to send messages to the vast reaches of the world.The fall of the BBS world led to my time in Internet Relay Chat (IRC), which after 12 years I’m still in the habit of visiting. Back when the BBSs crumbled, the world wasn’t ready for instant messaging. Everyone was accustomed to their chat rooms on AOL, IRC, CompuServe, and Prodigy, where they could join a channel of other random “thirty-somethings” and discuss the latest Seinfeld episode.
world of chat rooms felt too confining at this point; it was too much protocol to join a server, find a chat room, see who was awake and around, and get caught up in channel politics just to talk to a friend. Instant messaging allowed me to quickly “ping” a friend and share information.
As AOL released its Instant Messenger application (AIM), followed by Yahoo! and Microsoft Messenger, I registered on each to explore the new fea-tures and worlds opened to me. I can at least say that I’m happy not to have any screen names that end with a number. After using just about every client for long periods of time, I remained comfortable with ICQ and AIM.That was until August 2005, when Google Talk was released. After a rocky start, I began using Google Talk exclusively as my chat client. It provided all the main features that I wanted, without all the fluff that the other clients offered.
The Rise of Google
Google Inc. has recently joined the instant-messaging foray with the release of Google Talk. Everyone seems to know Google. Well known for creating the most advanced search engine of its time, Google has become synonymous with information gathering and research—so much so that in the summer of 2006, Merriam-Webster and the Oxford English Dictionary included the word Google as a verb meaning to search for information on a person using the Google search engine. Google’s search engine and its related advertising services have turned Google Inc. into an overnight success, with over 10,000 employees scattered throughout central California and even in Microsoft’s backyard of Redmond, Washington.
invi-Google store the accounts for millions of users, but it also maintains an invis-ible social network, tying various accounts together. Google knows who invited you to join their Google Mail service, as well as whom your friends are in Google Talk, creating an interesting network of your friends and family. Other Google services, such as Orkut (www.orkut.com), make this social net-work visible by allowing you to invite new friends to join your social circle.
Google has also started work on its line of Web-based office applications. It currently offers the ability to create and store documents and spreadsheets (http://docs.google.com), maintain your calendar schedules (www.google. com/calendar/), and store your favorite photos (http://picasaweb.google. com). We’ll take a look at many of these applications and see how Google Talk plays a vital role in then.
Notes From the Underground…
Google Beta?
Anyone who follows Google’s products will notice that a large majority of them are in Beta, a term describing the overall status of the software as not quite complete but good enough for mass testing. You might be familiar with the term Beta test, whereby a product is considered com-plete enough to warrant scrutiny and stress testing. Well, Google Talk is a Beta product, under Beta testing by millions of users. It joins the large Google family of Beta products, such as Google Mail. What this ultimately means is that the product has not been finalized into a releasable product and could undergo changes at any time.
It is important to note that this book covers the Beta version of Google Talk. That means that new features might be implemented by the time you’ve installed it, and other features might be altered and removed.
The Instant-Messaging World
useless junk that other IM clients are known for. In this section, we’ll take a brief look at Google’s competition in the IM market.
America Online Instant Messenger
Currently, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is the most popular instant-mes-saging service in use in the United States. Precise numbers are hard to deter-mine, but comScore judged that AIM has 54 million users as of July 2005, giving it a significant market presence. AIM is the big name in the IM world, there is no doubt about that. Although not the first IM service, AIM has the largest number of users with its existing America Online user base and the millions of others who registered just to use its chat client.
AIM gave users the ability to log into any computer across the world that had the AIM client and immediately receive their full contact lists, showing which of their buddies were online at the time. It was the perfect product for the busy traveler and student, who might use hundreds of machines during the course of a year. Chat was effortless, as was the transfer of files from one machine to another.
However, over time, a disease crept into AOL Instant Messenger. A disease called creeping featuritis, which often proves fatal.
Notes From the Underground
Hide Your Daughters, It’s Creeping Featuritis!
The unfortunate side effect is that more focus and development goes into the creation of new ideas and add-ons, instead of making the already existing features pristine and bullet-proof. Typical features creeps in IM clients include themes, enhanced smiley faces, games, greeting cards and avatars.
AOL Instant Messenger was also used as a vehicle to push advertisements and other AOL features to users who really couldn’t care less, as shown in Figure 1.1. AOL also touts its AIM Today portal to all users, insisting that they really do want a one-stop shop for all their e-mail and personal settings as well as all the latest celebrity gossip.
Figure 1.1 AOL Instant Messenger 5.9
ICQ
designed with a peculiar name, an acoronym for “I Seek You,” by a team of Israeli programmers. ICQ itself hosts over 20 million active users from all across the world, as stated by one of AOL’s press statements
(www.corp.aol.com/products/brands_icq.shtml). This user base is contested, though; since ICQ and AIM share the same protocol, there is a chance that the number is dramatically lower. Some market analysts put the ICQ user base at a meager 1.8 million.
Life for ICQ changed quite a bit, though, in 2000, when it was acquired by America Online. ICQ was left alone to continue to prosper, but its back-end protocol design was altered to become compatible with AIM, allowing AIM and ICQ users to communicate with each other.
Although ICQ doesn’t commandeer the great number of users that other services do, it has an established presence in many foreign markets. It also touts itself as a medium for online dating and relationships through its com-plex homepage that attempts to find compatible chat partners. Unfortunately, like many other IM clients, it relies on many advertisements for its own fea-tures and for other service providers, as shown in Figure 1.2.
Microsoft Windows Live Messenger
The up and coming challenger in the instant messaging world comes from Microsoft, the behemoth from Redmond, Washington that likes its fingers in all of the pies.Their Microsoft Network (MSN) service was an attempt to dominate the ISP world and compete with AOL, but the only real by-product seems to be MSN Messenger. MSN Messenger ended up being one of the cleanest and produced more efficient IM clients for its time. With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft is moving forward with its MSN replacement, Windows Live Messenger (WLM), as shown in Figure 1.3. WLM is proving to be quite a capable IM client, with a much cleaner interface than most of its competition.
Figure 1.3 Microsoft Live Messenger
aiming for the top of the food chain with a recent deal with Yahoo! that will allow the two clients to share user communications.
Yahoo! Messenger
With the arrival of Google,Yahoo! has been fighting for its identity in the online world. Its second-rate search engine was recently updated to match the power of Google’s search engine, but a lot of its attention has been placed on Yahoo! Messenger. If you are looking for flash-bang graphical overload, Yahoo! will probably be your client of choice. Not only can you force gaudy commercialized themes, called IMVironments, onto your friends, but you can also play a game of checkers with them. In Figure 1.4, you will notice that you are pushed into a variety of advertisements for Pop-Tarts,Yahoo! Movies Trailer plug-in,Yahoo! Voice Chat,Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast,Yahoo! 360*, Yahoo! Weather, and the Yahoo! Search engine.
However,Yahoo! Messenger has found its niche, since it holds the third largest user base of IM clients, with approximately 21 million users
(www.thestreet.com/_googlen/markets/jamesaltucher/10242834.html). Its numbers are sure to fluctuate as it finally has merged its protocol with Microsoft Live Messenger in summer 2005, allowing Yahoo! and Microsoft Live users to communicate with each other.
Ever heard of QQ? You probably haven’t, although it is the most popular IM chat client in the world. It has over 220 million active users on its service; that’s more active users than all the other clients discussed here combined! However, its user base is predominantly Asian, with large usage in China, Korea, and Japan, along with significant usage in South Africa. So why do I mention it? Well, 220 million users can’t be wrong! However, much of this success is because QQ operates very anonymously, without even requiring an e-mail address for registration. QQ features a very clean and simple interface, as shown in Figure 1.5, with no advertisements and no pushy pop-up win-dows.There are no additional frill packages, just honest-to-goodness chat.This is what the people want, and they have been waiting for it here in the United States! Their wishes have finally been answered with Google Talk.
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Now that you’ve briefly looked through what the market has to offer, what do you see wrong? There is plenty to complain about: advertisements, pop-up windows, portal home pages, dozens of icons and buttons, and a lack of concise design. Much of these products are tailored towards the young teenage crowd, with an emphasis on games and playing “dress up” with your own avatar. What about the practical user in all of us? Our inner adult wants to get down to brass tacks, bypass all of the graphical fluff, and just chat with friends. We don’t care what dress Tiffany’s fictional avatar is wearing. What we want is a simple to use program that makes it easy to find our friends and talk to them, as shown in Figure 1.6. The answer for this type of user is Google Talk.
Figure 1.6 Google Talk Client
popular Jabber protocol. It is ubiquitous in your world, allowing you to con-nect through a standalone client, Google Mail, or many of Google’s other Web-based applications.
When Google Talk was envisioned, the planners decided to take advantage of the Jabber protocol, an open-standard protocol based upon XML that’s used in a large variety of networks. Its design makes it easy for third-party developers to create modifications and extensions to Google Talk or create their own clients that can converse with Google Talk users.This is vastly different from all the other prominent IM services, which use their own closed-source protocols and spend countless hours blocking access from outside clients.
Google Talking Without a Client
Throughout this book we will become intimately familiar with the Google Talk standalone client, shown in Figure 1.6. However, that is not the only means of communication. Google turned a lot of heads when it decided to implement Google Talk capabilities within Google Mail, as shown in Figure 1.7. Using any Internet-accessible computer in the world, you can now jump in to check your Gmail and chat with all your friends. Although there is a bit of difference in how the standalone and the Web-based clients work, they share the same protocol and basic functionality. Many of these differences will be discussed later in this book, and we’ll discuss how you can setup and use each of these implementations.
Obviously, the sky is the limit for an application like Google Talk, with the full resources of Google, Inc. behind it. Google Talk has already been imple-mented into other Google apps, such as their Google Desktop (http://desktop. google.com), with the potential for it to be included in numerous other appli-cations, such as Google’s Documents and Spreadsheets applications. Google’s interoperability is often the butt of many jokes, though, after the recent press that they have received over their ad-based Google Mail system. Pretty soon, we may see Google Talk monitoring our conversations, as demonstrated in the UserFriendly.org comic strip in Figure 1.8.
Figure 1.8Google Talk Helping With Bad English (http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20050828)
Notes From the Underground…
document with your friends, family, or coworkers and send messages about the content while simultaneously editing the document. Such a chat feature might seem right up Google Talk’s alley, but it’s actually using a standard Web-based chat format. However, keep your eyes on it; there is great hope for what Google Docs and Spreadsheets can become. Think of creating a new spreadsheet and picking names off your Google Talk contact list to share the contents with, then tying in the discussion with your Talk buddies.
Google Talking On the Go
Along with its Web-based interface for communicating with others, Google Talk is also available on a number of portable communication devices, such as the RIM BlackBerry, as shown in Figure 1.9, and the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet.There is strong potential for an even greater market presence with Google Talk for Palm devices and cell phones. How about Google Talk on your wrist watch?
Solutions Fast-Track
How Did We Get Here?
The instant-messaging world that we currently enjoy has been in development for well over a decade as dozens of IM clients battled for market dominance.
The use of IM marks a significant departure in the way modern Internet users view their online friends and their time online.Today we don’t want to commit ourselves to a chat application and invest the time in sitting in chat rooms. We want instantaneous
communication with friends and family, no matter what we are doing at the time.
The Rise of Google
Google Inc., starting from the development of an ingenious search engine design, has grown into a multibillion-dollar corporation that seeks to revolutionize the way people operate on the Internet.
Google Talk is just one small side project of the greater Google good and symbolizes Google’s attitudes toward allowing its employees to work on fun pet projects that could grow up to change the world.
The Instant-Messaging World
Although ICQ might have been the first recognized instant-messaging service, it has definitely fallen behind the times, holding significantly fewer devoted users than any other prominent IM service.
Yahoo! Messenger and Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger have been vying for the lead position, and now that both clients
intermingle, their combined user base could spell trouble for AIM.
One of the greatest disadvantages to most IM clients is their creeping features, where numerous insignificant modifications are favored over the core chat experience.
QQ leads the world in active users through its established market in Asia and with its simplified and to-the-point interface.
Introducing Google Talk
Google Talk might be the newest IM service to emerge, but with a strong brand name and loyal following, it could become one of the most popular clients in upcoming years.
Google Talk not only operates with its standalone client, it is also tied into a number of Google services, such as Google Mail.
Q: I use Trillian for all of my instant messaging. Does Google Talk integrate into it?
A: Trillian is an excellent client that features a simplified interface that appeals to many users.Trillian is also a free product that allows you to communicate with a wide variety of instant-messaging services. However, the free version of Trillian does not support Google Talk; you will have to purchase Trillian Pro. If Google Talk is going to be your client of choice, and you don’t use accounts on many other services, it is much easier and cheaper just to use the Google Talk client.
Q: When will Google Talk be taken out of Beta?
A: That’s impossible to say. Many Google products stay in the Beta stage for months, if not years, because they are constantly being fine-tuned and updated. Many developers are hesitant to put the final stamp of approval on their product until they are sure that it is completely bug free and has all the features users want. However, as any software program manager can tell you, sometimes products have to ship with bugs. It is advantageous for Google to have its product sit in Beta mode, where millions of adven-turous users can test and abuse it, without having to commit the company to Google Talk being a final product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I like my instant-messaging clients with lots of colors and video. Can I modify Google Talk for this?
Installation
Solutions in this chapter:
■ Installing Google Talk on Windows
Chapter 2
Summary
Introduction
In this chapter, we’ll look at what’s required to begin making and taking calls in Google Talk. Depending on your platform, the installation requirements and steps are slightly different, so feel free to skip down to the section that covers your particular platform.
Minimum System Requirements
So you’ve heard all about this Internet telephone thing that the world is buzzing about, and you’ve decided you want to get on board. Good for you! Let’s look at the steps you’ll need to take to get Google Talk properly installed and configured so you can begin to reach out and touch someone. First things first: We need to ensure that your computer system meets Google Talk’s minimum requirements.
Connection Speed: Broadband vs. Dial-Up
First you need an Internet connection. I know, I know … an Internet con-nection? For an Internet phone call? Stop the presses! Although this might seem blindingly obvious, it is important that your connection have enough bandwidth to accommodate Internet telephone traffic. What is bandwidth? Bandwidth is a measure of the capacity of a communications channel.The higher a channel’s bandwidth, the more information it can carry.
So what does this mean to you, the Google Talk user? Basically, there are two types of bandwidth: broadband and dial-up.This is of course a dangerous over-generalization, but for consumer-level Internet connections, this defini-tion will suffice. Broadband is generally considered to be anything at the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) level and faster, such as the common cable modem Internet connection.
So why does all this matter? So glad you asked! Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) requires a lot of bandwidth to send voice traffic at acceptable speeds. Without a sufficient connection, the quality of the audio will decrease, echo, jitter, and become otherwise unusable.Typical dial-up connections simply don’t have the room or the speed to make telephone calls; ironic, con-sidering that this traffic is over telephone lines in the first place. If you happen to live in an area where broadband Internet connectivity is not available, that doesn’t mean that you will be unable to use Google Talk, but it does exclude you from taking advantage of Google Talk’s voice chat capabilities. However, if you are fortunate enough to have access to a broadband connection, you will be able to take advantage of all Google Talk’s features.
Upload and Download Speeds
An important thing to keep in mind in regard to bandwidth speed is that not all connection speeds are created equal.This matters most when it comes to upload speed, which affects your ability to send audio. Upload speed is how fast you can send data. Conversely, download is the speed at which you receive
data. Most cable modems and DSL lines have asynchronous speeds, which means that the download speed is generally much faster than the upload speed.This is especially important over shared Internet connections, such as at a Wi-Fi hotspot or on a local area network (LAN). Although download speeds are often plentiful, the same numbers of people are sharing the min-imal upload bandwidth, which might result in choppy or unusable call audio.
As a guideline, the following are average speeds associated with their respective Internet connection types:
■ Cable modem 4Mbps download, 250kps upload
■ Standard DSL 1.5 Mbps download, 128kbps upload
Testing Your Bandwidth Speeds
Many places on the Internet, such as www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/, will give you a measurement of your connection’s bandwidth speeds. However, these sites will typically measure only your download speed, and Google Talk is more dependent on upload speed. For an accurate measure of upload speed, check out the speed test at www.dslreports.com/stest/. Please note also that although this site supports most geographic locations, not all places are supported, so your mileage may vary.
Microphone and Speakers
Now that you’ve made sure you’ve got the download and upload speeds nec-essary to make a Google Talk call, you need some equipment to actually send and receive audio. Specifically, you’ll need a microphone and speakers. In this section, we’ll look at some considerations for these required accessories.
Headsets
Google recommends using a headset (which integrates both a microphone and a headphone speaker), such as the ones made by Logitech. For optimal sound quality, get a headset with full duplex.Full duplexmeans that the headset can receive and send audio simultaneously.
Microphone and Headphones
If you don’t have access to a headset such as those made by Logitech, you can use regular headphones like the ones that come with any iPod or CD player and a generic microphone. Both can be obtained at most stores with an elec-tronics department, such as Best Buy or even Wal-Mart. It is important to prevent the sound from the headphones reaching the microphone or you will experience the dreaded audio assault of feedback.
You will probably need to fiddle with the audio settings for both the microphone and the headphones. Ideally you want the headphones no louder than what is required to clearly hear the person on the call, and you want the microphone no more sensitive than is needed to be heard clearly by your caller.
A Word About Laptops
The majority of laptops manufactured today come from the factory with built-in speakers and a built-in microphone. Although it is still advisable to use a set of headphones with this configuration, you can have a perfectly good experience without one.You will still need to configure your micro-phone’s sensitivity to avoid undesirable audio.
Bluetooth Headsets
Most modern mobile phones and many laptop computers come equipped with Bluetooth. Bluetooth, the common name for devices complying with the IEEE 802.15.1 standard, is a wireless technology for personal area net-works (PANs) that allows wireless data exchange. Bluetooth net-works especially well for headsets, allowing hands-free communication within a range of 1 to 10 meters, depending on the class of Bluetooth radio in the device.The ranges for the respective radios are as follows:
■ Class 1 100 mW, 20 dBm, ~100 meters
■ Class 2 2.5 mW, 4 dBm, ~10 meters
You can use these Bluetooth headsets with Google Talk if you configure your computer to send audio through the headset.To use a headset with a computer, you must first “pair” the devices.This is done by setting both the computer and the headset in “discoverable” mode. Once the devices “see” each other, you can connect them, usually requiring you to enter a password or PIN in the setup software on your computer.The specifics of this opera-tion vary greatly by manufacturer and model and so are beyond the scope of this book. Consult the manuals that came with your headset and computer to successfully pair the devices.
If your computer did not ship equipped with a Bluetooth device, you’re not quite out of luck. Most consumer electronics and computer stores offer USB dongles, which will augment your computer with Bluetooth capabilities. Again, consult the manual that shipped with the dongle to properly configure it.
Notes from the Underground
Avoid Getting Bluejacked!
Remember not to keep your Bluetooth devices in “discoverable” mode when they are not in the process of being paired. Some Bluetooth devices have a weakness in the way the handshake between devices is imple-mented, making it possible (however unlikely) for an attacker to pair to your computer without your permission. This could enable all sorts of hacker hijinks. Of course, it would require the attacker to be within phys-ical proximity to you, but it is still an important thing to keep in mind.
USB Phones
The prices of these phones vary greatly depending on feature set, such as Google Talk integration (allowing you to log into Google Talk and place calls directly from the handset) or wireless capabilities that allow you to roam your living room as you take and make calls.The average price range for a USB phone is between $20 and $200.
Most USB phones are still very early in the software development stage and tend to be geared toward Skype, a competitive product to Google Talk. However, as Google Talk gains popularity, more phones are being shipped with compatibility for both VoIP clients. Also, many manufacturers provide an update to the firmware (the software that controls the phone) to include sup-port for Google Talk and other clients.
At the time of writing, the only phone completely compatible with Google Talk is the Yealink P1K USB phone.This phone retails for about US$50 and is compatible with Google Talk, Skype,Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, and VoIP Buster.This phone can be used on all major platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Apple’s Mac OS X, and Linux Fedora Core 3. More information on this phone can be found at
www.amperordirect.com/pc/b-yealink/Internet-phone-yealink-usbp1k.html.
Personal Computer (PC) Requirements
At the time of this printing, Google Talk is only officially available for com-puters running Microsoft Windows, although third-party applications will allow you to connect to the Google Talk network. We’ll discuss third-party applications in Chapter 5, but let’s take a quick look at the system require-ments for Google Talk now:
■ Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home and Pro), or
Windows Server 2003; you may use Linux if you have a client that supports the XMPP Protocol
■ A 56k dial-up connection or a faster broadband connection such as
DSL, cable modem, or satellite
■ 1GHz or faster processor; Google Talk will run on a computer with
less but may have undesired effects
■ A full-duplex sound card with a microphone and headphone jack
(for voice calls); a single-duplex sound card will work, but the audio will be choppy, and you will not be able to hear someone talk if you are already talking, and vice versa
Installing Google Talk on Windows
Before we get to actually installing and running Google Talk on our Windows system, we need to first ensure that our sound card is correctly configured and fully functional. Ensure that your headset or microphone/headphone combination are properly connected to the computer. If you are using a USB device, simply plug the device into an available USB port and, if necessary, follow any on-screen instructions to install the device.
If you are using a more traditional microphone or headset with standard headphone jacks, make sure the speakers or earphones are plugged into the audio-out port (typically colored green) and the microphone is plugged into the microphone jack (usually pink). More often than not, there will be a symbol in the shape of a microphone or headphones to guide you.
Windows comes with a program called Sound Recorder that we will use to run a test to make sure our equipment is set up properly.To do this, we will record and then play back an audio clip using our recording and playback devices. Sound Recorder is available by clicking Start | Programs |
Accessories | Entertainment | Sound Recorder, as shown in Figure 2.1.
Open Sound Recorder, as shown in Figure 2.2, then click the red
button on the far right of the application to begin recording. Now speak into the microphone.
Figure 2.2Windows Sound Recorder
You should notice some activity on the green line that runs through the center of the program window, which represents the audio wave form the program is recording (in this case, your voice). Click the Stop button next to the Record button and then play back the audio. If you hear your voice played back to you, congratulations! Your sound card is functional and your microphone is correctly connected. If you did not hear yourself, something went wrong and we have to troubleshoot.
Troubleshooting Windows Audio Recording
The first thing to check if the recording did not play back is whether or not the microphone or the sound card has been muted.Figure 2.3Muted Sound Card
Figure 2.4Mute Dialog Box
Figure 2.5Volume Control Panel
If you have made it this far and are positive that your connections are cor-rect but your audio still does not work, it is possible that you do not have a sound card, or you could be experiencing problems with that device’s drivers. To check that you have a sound card, first open Control Panel from the Start menu, as shown in Figure 2.6.
Figure 2.7 Sound and Audio Options
Next, select the Audio tab, as shown in Figure 2.8.
The device listed should be your sound card. If your card is not listed at all or is listed incorrectly, you might have a problem with your sound card and should consult your PC’s manufacturer for support.
Installing the Application
Now that you’ve made it this far, you are very close to making your first Google Talk call. Continue down the home stretch by visiting
http://talk.google.com/ to sign up for an account and download the client. If you already have a Google account (created by signing up for Google Groups, Gmail, or another Google service), you can simply skip this section.Your existing account will work just fine for Google Talk.
Click the Sign up here link on the Google Talk main page to begin the process of creating an account.The accounts setup page (shown in Figure 2.9) requires that you have an existing e-mail account.You’ll also need to choose a strong password of six characters or longer. When checked, the Remember me option will automatically log you in when you launch Google Talk.This is not recommended if you are using a shared computer.The Enable
Personalized Search option is discussed in Chapter 4.You can opt to enable or disable this feature at a later time.
Notes From the Underground…
Weak Passwords Mean Weak Security!
Google Talk and Google Accounts require you to create only a six-digit password, but it is recommended that you create one much longer and stronger than that. Your Google Accounts password protects more than just your Google Talk account; it could also protect your Gmail and other Google applications. Short passwords with no “special characters” (char-acters other than a–z and 0–9) in them are cracked much easier than those of eight characters or more. Avoid using words found in the dictio-nary as passwords or you can consider your accounts compromised. The longer the password, the safer your account will be.
Next you are prompted for your desired username and, optionally, your first and last names. If you include your first and last names, they will be displayed when users query your profile for information about you. Lastly, you’ll need to fill out the Google Word Verification form with the word pictured in the box. You might notice that the displayed word looks odd, often in a random color and displayed in a zigzag or wavy line.This is to prevent automated tools from signing up for accounts that can be used to send IM or telephonic spam, the digital equivalent of junk mail and telemarketing messages.The idea is that only a sentient human should be able to read the word displayed in the image. Automating Google processes without using their programmer API (a means of interacting with Google legally for programmers) is explicitly prohibited and a big no-no. Doing so could get you in big trouble with Google and should be avoided.
Lastly, read the terms of service and the privacy policy, and check the box indicating that you have done so.
trust the source of this application. Since we trust Google, feel free to save the installer to someplace convenient, such as your Desktop.
Figure 2.10 Windows Download Security Warning
Now that we’ve downloaded the application and signed up for an
account, we need to run the application. Locate where you saved the installer (such as the Desktop) and double-click the file.You are first presented with a license agreement, as shown in Figure 2.11. Scroll through and read the agreement to understand the rules for using Google Talk, then click I agree. The application will then install itself on your computer.
Once the installation has completed, click the Finish button, as shown in Figure 2.12.
Figure 2.12Completing the Google Talk Installer
You are now ready to run the program and log in with your account information. Run Google Talk from the Start menu.You will be prompted for your username and password, as shown in Figure 2.13.
Fill out the Username and Passwordfields with the information from your Google or Gmail account. If you are using your Gmail account, your Gmail contacts will automatically be populated into your Buddy list.You will also see the number of e-mails you have in your Gmail account and might be greeted by a pop-up window in the lower-right corner of your screen (shown in Figure 2.14), which could contain the subject and first few lines of any messages you might have.
Figure 2.14Google Talk’s Gmail Notifier
The main Google Talk interface (shown in Figure 2.15) is very simple and very efficient. It very much mimics the ease of use that Gmail and the Google search engine are known for.
You’ve done it! You have successfully completed signing up for and installing Google Talk on your Windows machine. Now you can begin chat-ting with your online contacts by double-clicking a name in the list and selecting an option, as shown in Figure 2.16.
Solutions Fast Track
What Type of Operating System Should I Use?
All modern operating systems have clients which will allow you to connect to the Google Talk network.
For maximum compatibility with Google Talk and its users, it is recommended to use Windows.
Audio Hardware Requirements
Use a full-duplex sound card if you can.This will allow you to send and receive audio simultaneously, much like a real telephone.
Ideally you’ll have a headset with noise-cancellation features to filter out unwanted background noise, although a standard
headphone/microphone combination should suffice.
Bandwidth Considerations
Public WiFi hotspots are not good for Google Talk use, since the upload bandwidth stream is limited and is shared among all patrons of the access point.
Dial-up Internet connections of 56k or higher are usable, but the audio will sound poor. Dial-up is really only suitable for text chatting with another user.
Q: Do I need to install a program to use Google Talk?
A: No, you can use the text chat features of Google Talk through Gmail.
Q: Will Google Talk cost me anything?
A: Maybe. Google Talk is itself a free service, and calling other people with Google Talk over the Internet does not cost extra in and of itself.You will need an Internet connection, which might cost you money. Also, some ISPs might charge you by how much bandwidth you use, and therefore you might incur cost from the additional traffic.
Q: I use an instant-messaging client you did not talk about. Can I still con-nect to Google Talk?
A: As long as the client you use supports the Jabber protocol, you will be able to peer with Google Talking. Consult the documentation for your client to connect to Google’s Jabber network. We’ll discuss non-Windows applications in the next chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following Frequently Asked Questions, answered by the authors of this book, are designed to both measure your understanding of the concepts presented in this chapter and to assist you with real-life implementation of these concepts. To have your questions about this chapter answered by the author, browse to www.syngress.com/solutionsand click on the “Ask the Author”form.
Google Talk for
Non-Windows Users
Solutions in this chapter:
■ Gaim for Linux ■ iChat for OS X ■ Adium for OS X
Chapter 3
Summary
Introduction
It might seem to some that the world revolves around Microsoft Windows, but some of us know better. Millions of Linux and Macintosh users out there make up a very vocal minority. Well, guess what? You guys aren’t completely left out of Google Talk. Even though the official Google Talk client is only available for Windows, it is possible to use third-party applications in both Linux and OS X to chat with your Google Talk friends.
This is all made possible because Google has taken advantage of the Jabber protocol, an open-source network design that anyone can tap into and start using.This is completely the opposite philosophy of other IM clients, such as AOL Instant Messenger,Yahoo! Messenger, and Microsoft Messenger, which have fought to keep third-party clients from connecting to their networks.
Google runs an open Google Talk server at talk.google.com that allows connections from any client using the Jabber protocol. All a client has to do is connect to the correct listening port on talk.google.com and they can imme-diately start chatting with their friends.
Tools & Traps…
Google Talk’s Listening Port
Gaim for Linux
Gaim, an open-source, instant-messaging client, is one of the most popular clients in use today. It can be downloaded from http://gaim.sourceforge.net and installed on a variety of operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and OS X. Gaim allows you to connect to a very wide variety of IM networks, including AIM, ICQ, MSN,Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, QQ, and Jabber. In addi-tion, Gaim’s support of Jabber allows it to connect directly to Google’s Talk server.
The Gaim download page (http://gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php) lists a number of RPM package management archives available for many of the newest and most popular Linux distributions, though many popular distri-butions are still not supported. If you aren’t interested in one of the mainline RPM distributions, you can download the Autopackage version of Gaim or the full source code. Autopackage is a new style of installer similar to the Windows install “wizards.” Autopackage installation is simple: Download the package, give it execute permission, and run it.
If you are unable to install the RPM or Autopackage versions of Gaim, you might be forced to compile it straight from the source code. Although many users prefer this method, it’s not for the faint of heart, and neither is it for new Linux users.The INSTALL file inside the distribution contains the exact installation procedure. Since the instructions are subject to change, we will not outline them here, but suffice it to say that the typical ./configure ; make ; make install commands work well for most installations. Automake is designed to facilitate these simplified installation instructions. Be sure that GnuTLS (www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/) is installed before compiling from source, because Gaim requires it to be able to log into the Google Talk net-work. Without it, your client will display “ERROR: Server does not use any supported authentication method” when trying to connect to Google Talk.
Setting Up Your Account
Figure 3.1Gaim Login Screen
This will open the Gaim Account Manager, as shown in Figure 3.2. From this window you can add, delete, or edit any of your instant-messaging accounts. Click the button labeled +Add to add a new account to Gaim.
Figure 3.2Gaim Account Manager
Figure 3.3Gaim Account Settings
Since Google Talk uses Jabber for communication, first set Protocol to
Jabber. Doing so will automatically update the fields that apply to this pro-tocol. Figure 3.3 shows the result of this selection. In this example,Show more optionshas been clicked; this displays the Jabber Options and Proxy Options.You should type your Google Talk username in the Screen Name
field. Specify gmail.com as the server.This server field only specifies where your account is stored. Since all Google Talk accounts are Gmail accounts,
gmail.com is the option to specify here. Ensure that Use TLS if available
is checked. Set the Connect Server to talk.google.comand the Port to
5222.
Once the account is configured, click the Save button to return to the main login screen, where you should see your account information displayed. Type in your account’s password, click Sign On, and away you go.
Using Gaim
Gaim’s Buddy List (see Figure 3.4) is very straightforward, like most other IM clients. All your online friends will be shown with a glowing light bulb next to their names. Simply double-clicking any name will launch a chat window between you and your friend.
Figure 3.4Gaim Buddy List
Figure 3.5Gaim Chat Window
iChat for OS X
For the many Macintosh users in the world, iChat is one of the most used instant-messaging clients.This could be simply because it’s built into the operating system and most users are too lazy to replace something that already exists, but it’s also a very simple and easy-to-use program that’s already right there in your dock. iChat allows most users to immediately get up and chat-ting on a variety of networks, including AIM, .Mac, and Jabber.You can even be logged into multiple networks at the same time, chatting with Windows and Mac friends simultaneously.
Tools & Traps
Using the Correct Version of iChat
Setting Up Your Account
The first time that you run iChat, you are prompted to configure your accounts. From here, you can enter in information for your AIM, .Mac, or Jabber accounts. However, if you want to use iChat to connect to Google Talk, the setup screen, shown in Figure 3.6, does not give you all the options you need to really set it up. Simply click Continue. We’ll set up the account afterward.
Figure 3.6iChat Initial Setup
Once iChat is up and running, we need to go into its preferences to set up our Google Talk account.To do so, just select iChat | Preferences from the top of your screen, or press the Commandkey. Once in the preferences screen, you should see an icon labeled Accounts, wherein you can manage all your supported chat accounts. Now we just need to add Google Talk to iChat as a Jabber account. Do this by clicking the +button in the bottom left of the window to bring up the account creation screen, shown in Figure 3.7. From here, pull down the list of items for Account Typeand choose Jabber Account. Under Jabber ID, type your full Gmail address, such as
set up. Go ahead and click Add, and we’ll make a few small changes to make sure you can connect.
Figure 3.7iChat Account Setup
After you’ve added your Jabber account, details will be shown in the right-hand portion of the Preferences window.These details are broken into two sections: Account Information, shown in Figure 3.8, and Server Settings, shown in Figure 3.9.The Account Information section allows you to specify your e-mail address and password and whether or not you’d like to automati-cally log into this account when iChat is launched.The information you typed into iChat’s setup dialogs is populated into these fields.
In the Server Settings section (see Figure 3.9), verify that the server is set to talk.google.comand that the port is set to 5223. Because Google Talk encrypts its authentication traffic, you need to ensure that the options
Connect using SSL and Allow self-signed certificates are checked. Make sure that you have a location value set so that others know where you’re chat-ting from.The easiest option is just to check Use my machine name so that you don’t have to worry about it.
Figure 3.9iChat Server Settings
Using iChat
Figure 3.10iChat Buddy List
Adding new friends to your contact list is as easy as clicking the + button in the lower-left of the buddy list window, as shown in Figure 3.10. From there, you can select to add a new contact and specify his or her Google Talk username.To remove a friend from your list, simply click the friend’s name
and select Buddies | Remove Buddy….
iChat Limitations
The implementation of Jabber and Google Talk into Tiger’s version of iChat does have some great limitations. It can only perform some very basic func-tions, such as being able to add and remove friends from your contact list or chat with them. It does not have the capability to send files or voicemails to other users. As shown in Figure 3.12, the only options to perform under the Buddies menu are Get Info and Change My Picture. Obviously, iChat is great as a very basic chat client because it is already built into OS X, but it lacks the advanced features that some users enjoy.
Figure 3.12iChat Menu
Adium X for OS X
Figure 3.13Adium Install
Setting Up Your Account
The first time that you run Adium it will automatically open the Preferences screen, where you can add new accounts, as shown in Figure 3.14. If you’re already an Adium user, simply select the Adium | Preferences menu from the top of your screen to open this window. Similar to iChat, if you want to add a new account, click the +button located in the lower-left portion of the screen.This will drop down a menu of all the various networks that Adium supports, in which you will notice Google Talk, along with a wide variety of other popular IM networks.
After you select Google Talk from this menu, a new window will appear, allowing you to configure your account information.This window is divided into five sections, allowing you to fully customize your account and its con-nection.The first section is the Account screen, shown in Figure 3.15. From this screen, enter your Google Talk e-mail address as the Jabber ID and your Google Talk password.You can also select whether or not to automatically log into this account when Adium starts.
The Personal screen allows you to give yourself an alias name that will be shown to your friends in their contact lists.You can also specify an avatar image for your account that will be displayed to all your friends.
Figure 3.15Adium Account Settings
The Options screen, shown in Figure 3.16, allows you to configure the server to connect to and the way the connection should be made. From here, just type talk.google.comas the Connect Server and specify 5222 as the connection port.To connect to Google Talk, you must check the box labeled
Use TLS encryption.
The Privacy screen gives you the option of encrypting your messages to your friends. However, this is performed automatically by Google Talk through the TLS encryption specified in Figure 3.16, so there’s no need to change the settings here.You can also specify whether you want to send noti-fications to your friends that you are in the middle of typing a message to them.
You also have the ability to configure Adium to connect to Google Talk through a proxy server by viewing the Proxy screen, shown in Figure 3.17. By using a proxy, you can hide your computer’s IP address from Google and you can hide the fact that you’re using Google Talk from your local network monitors. Proxy usage is discussed in depth later in this book.
When you’ve configured everything for your account, click the OK
button to save the details and log in.
Figure 3.17Adium Proxy Settings
Using Adium X
Figure 3.18Adium Menu
Chatting with Adium is very straightforward. Simply click your friend’s name to open a chat window, as shown in Figure 3.19. From here, simply type your messages and chat back and forth. Adium is also much more com-patible with Google Talk than iChat is, allowing you to perform extra func-tions, such as transferring files to and receiving files from your friends.
To add a new friend to your contact list, choose Contact | Add Contact… from the top of your screen, where you can simply type in the Google Talk username of your new friend. Removing a friend is just as easily done by selecting the name in your list and choosing Contact | Remove
username.
Summary
While Google has created their own official Google Talk client, they do allow connection from other clients for other operating systems. This allows for users of both Linux and OS X to also share into the Google Talk experience. Much of this is possible because Google has decided to embrace Jabber - an open protocol, one in which its entire layout and structure is publicly docu-mented, unlike the protocols used by most other IM services, so alternative clients can be used instead of the official client.
Gaim is one of the most popular of these alternative clients, being an open-source application available for a large number of operating systems. It can either be downloaded as the full source code, which you must configure and compile, or as a pre-compiled binary, similar to Windows installations. You simply need to add a new Jabber account and complete it with Google Talk information, as shown throughout this chapter.
Solutions Fast Track
Gaim for Linux
Gaim is a free, open-source application that connects to the Google Talk network.
Gaim also allows you to be logged onto multiple IM networks simultaneously.
iChat for OS X
iChat is a free IM application built into Macintosh OS X that supports AIM, .Mac, and Jabber networks.
iChat only allows you to perform basic chat functions on Google Talk and is unable to give you the power to send files or voicemails to other users.
Adium for OS X
Adium X is a free, open-source, instant-messenger application for OS X.
Q: Why am I unable to have Gaim connect to Google Talk? It’s always com-plaining that the server “doesn’t use any supported authentication
method,”
A: This is a common problem with the Gaim client and is normally caused by Gaim being unable to find the TLS libraries to support encrypted communications. Normally this can be fixed by installing the gnutls and gnutls-devel packages and compiling Gaim from source with ./configure —enable-gnutls=yes.
Q: I don’t really like any of the clients discussed here. What other client options do I have for Google Talk?
A: There is actually a wide variety of clients that you can use to connect to Google Talk. Any client that supports the Jabber protocol and TLS encryp-tion will have you up and running. Clients that Google recommends include Miranda (www.miranda-im.org), Psi (http://psi.affinix.com), and Trillian Pro (www.ceruleanstudios.com). Of these,Trillian Pro is the only one that is a commercial product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Google Talk Usage
Solutions in this chapter:
■ Basic Use of the Google Talk Client ■ Chat Functionality
■ Voice Communications ■ Data Sharing
■ Client Personalization
Chapter 4
Summary
Using Google Talk
So you’ve just installed Google Talk. Good for you! Now let’s spend a few moments getting your client all set up and ready for you to be able to chat with your friends and family. One of Google Talk’s greatest features is its sim-plicity. As is the case with nearly every product that Google has created or endorsed, Google Talk was designed to be very straightforward and easy to use, and it features an extremely clean interface, as shown in Figure 4.1. We’ll begin with how to add your friends to your contact list and how to remove your friends who have turned into enemies.This section will also touch on how to change your Google Talk status to let others know if you’re away or just jamming to music.
Figure 4.1Google Talk Main Screen
Your Contact List
contacts you might otherwise have to add. Normally, you would need to add each individual friend who you communicate with to your contact list and have them add you in return. However, Google Talk will automatically parse through contacts from your Gmail account and add them to your contact list. In situations where you have hundreds of contacts in your Gmail account, only the ones that you’ve most recently spoken with will be displayed.
The contacts within your contact list are broken into two styles. Contact names that have a colored dot next to them, as shown in Figure 4.1, are people who are also running Google Talk.The contacts that have a simple, one-line name are contacts that have been added from your Gmail account. These are contacts who have not installed Google Talk.
Adding Contacts
Even though a list of contacts can be added by default, you will not be able to fully interact with many of them if they are not also running Google Talk. This situation can be resolved by simply inviting these people to Google Talk. You’re a special person; they respect and adore you. If you suggest using Google Talk, they will inevitably agree. If you highlight a non-Google Talk name (the one-liners in your list), a button labeled Invite will appear. When you click this button, an invitation will be mailed to the recipient’s e-mail address. Since I’m sure you don’t want your name associated with a cheesy advertising e-mail that reeks of spam, check out Figure 4.2 to see the actual e-mail contents showing exactly what your friends will receive. (Your name and e-mail address will replace the author’s in the From and Subject fields and the body of the message.)
Figure 4.2Google Talk’s Invite E-Mail
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2006 17:35:02 -0700 From: "Brian Baskin" <br(edited)@gmail.com> To: [email protected]
Subject: Brian Baskin wants to chat
